Michael never knows what to write in these little description areas. Should he say something witty to make people laugh and remember him or does he do something snarky like quoting Hamlet. Well whatever he writes here, it is just only a brief glimpse inside.
Make your own choices, you'll stay if you want to.

Monday, May 21, 2012

NATO, Chicago and how the media lies

The NATO meeting being held in Chicago started yesterday so last nights news was filled with updates on how the riots were progressing....something that everyone knew was going to happen. They also continued to remind us that some trains would not be running, there would be heightened security on those trains and that some employers told their employees NOT to come to work today.

In fact, that's ALL that's been ground into our heads for the past 2-3 weeks:

- Certain METRA Trains (the ones that run under McCormick Place) would not be running.

- ALL METRA Train riders would have to go through security and that they were only allowed to carry one bag with certain measurements, and certain items would be restricted.

- There are going to be A LOT of road closures, including parts of Lake Shore Drive through downtown which will make passage from the North to South sides very difficult.

- Employers KNEW that there would be disruption to Public Transportation and Road Closures so they made sure that their employees could work remotely on Monday.

Even further - my company "mandated" that anyone who has a laptop was required to take it home on Friday in case there were further disruptions that would really make it difficult for us to get to the office we could still conduct business working from home.

Here in Chicago EVERYONE has been getting ready for NATO, we know roads are closed, we know of the heightened security, we know that there are going to protesters.

But this morning on Good Morning America, Robin Roberts opened the broadcast with this statement: "NATO Protests in Chicago are forcing the city to shut down train lines and major highways and employers are telling their workers not to come to work downtown today." The problem with this - it's all a LIE.

I can't believe that I'm going to say this, but I actually agree with Sarah Palin on something: today I agree that the "Lame Stream" Media just wants to hype stories beyond what they really are to create a sensationalized version of what is not reality.

And of course, now that the media is reporting of protests and "massive closures" and protests I'm going to be getting a call from my Mom to make sure that I'm ok.....at which point I'm going to have to say to her "Mom, the media was lying" which is a conversation I never thought I'd have to have with my Mom.